taste, or is generally considered indecent or obscene. taboo – The idiom directly refers to sexual and/or scatological practices, and is unacceptable in standard contexts.
Occasionally, synonymous idioms of two different registers are grouped together in the same head entry, as: ГОЛОВА ВАРИТ (у кого) coll; КОТЕЛОК ВАРИТ substand; МОЗГИ ВАРЯТ substand. ^.о. is bright, intelligent’. An attempt has been made to provide equivalents covering all stylistic registers presented in the entry.
Emotive-expressive labels describe the emotions commonly conveyed by the given idiom. The intensity of these emotions, expressed particularly clearly in colloquial speech, may be affected by such factors as the speaker’s frame of mind, the relationship between the speaker and the interlocutor, and the status of the party to whom the idiom refers (the speaker himself, the interlocutor, or a third party). These are the emotive-expressive labels appearing in the dictionary:
humor (humorous)
iron or humor, humor or iron – Said with ironic or humorous intonation; the prevailing emotion comes first. disapprov (disapproving) derog (derogatory) condes (condescending) impol (impolite) rude
Grammatical Information
The grammatical description is intended to supply the basic information needed to use an idiom actively in speech and writing. The majority of the terminology in the grammatical descriptions should be familiar to anyone who has studied a foreign language; exceptions are specified below.
The grammatical description appears within square brackets [ ] and refers to the Russian idiom and its variants and/or synonyms as presented in the head matter. If an idiom’s variants and synonyms differ in structure and/or syntactic function
[ xx ]
from the main form, a description of each variant/synonym is provided. When different senses of a polysemous idiom require different grammatical information, grammatical brackets are included at each numbered sense.
An idiom is described according to its phrase type in those instances when it is used in all or most of the syntactic functions characteristic of the given type of phrase. The phrase types referred to in the grammatical brackets are NP (noun phrase), VP (verb phrase), AdjP (adjective phrase), AdvP (adverb phrase), and PrepP (prepositional phrase). To avoid complicating the grammatical description, the following labels are used as umbrella terms: NP encompasses both a noun and a noun phrase; VP both a verb and a verb phrase; and so on. (These grammatical labels and their syntactic parameters are described separately below.)
When an idiom is “frozen” and the description of the type of phrase (if altogether possible) would in no way help the user to apply it correctly, it is described either as “Invar” (invariable) or as “these forms only.” “Invar” indicates that the single form presented in the head matter is the only form used: Г-429 ГРУДЬ В ГРУДЬ [Invar; adv]. The label “these forms only” indicates that the multiple variants presented in the head matter are the only forms used: Д-305 ДОХНУТЬ (ДЫХНУТЬ) НЕКОГДА [these forms only; impers predic with быть0]. The labels “Invar” and “these forms only” are also used to describe sentential idioms that are used only in the form or forms listed in the head matter: Б-6 БАБУШКА (ЕЩЁ) НАДВОЕ СКАЗАЛА (ГАДАЛА) [these forms only]. These two labels do not imply anything about the linear order of the components of an idiom, which is described separately.
When an idiom requires an object or complement to perform a specific syntactic function, its grammatical description includes an indication of the required object or complement: М-32 ПОД МАРКОЙ чего [.the resulting PrepP is adv].
When an idiom functions only as a subject-complement, it is described in grammatical brackets as “subj-compl.” In some instances, an idiomatic subject-complement can be used only with быть0; such an idiom is described as “subj-compl with быть0.” In other instances, an idiomatic subject-complement can be used with other copular verbs, in which case it is described as “subj-compl with copula.”
When an idiom that functions as an object-complement can be used only with a specific verb or verbs, the grammatical brackets specify that verb or those verbs:
Ж-40 • В ЖИВЫХ [PrepP; Invar; subj-compl with быть0, остаться (subj: human) or obj-compl with застать (obj: human)].
When an idiom that is not fixed in form (not “Invar” or “these forms only”) is used as a subject- or object-complement, its gender and number are controlled by the subject or object, respectively.
Noun Phrases
As stated above, an idiom is described as “NP” when it is used in all or most of the typical syntactic functions of a noun phrase; that is, as a subject, an object, and a complement. For idioms in which one noun governs another or others, NP refers to the key word of the idiom: ГЕРОЙ ДНЯ ‘the hero of he hour’; КНИГА ЗА СЕМЬЮ ПЕЧАТЯМИ ‘a closed book’; ПАРА ПУСТЯКОВ ‘child’s play’. Grammatical brackets indicate when an idiom is used only or predominantly in one or two of the above functions: K-313 ЦЕЛЫЙ КОРОБ [NP; sing
only; subj or obj]. Grammatical brackets also indicate when an idiom is usually (or often) used as a vocative or appositive: Г-225 ШАЛЬНАЯ ГОЛОВА [NP; usu. appos, vocative, or subj-compl with copula (subj: human)].
Restrictions are provided for noun phrase idioms that are used only in one grammatical case; for example, sense 2 of M-18 САМАЯ МАЛОСТЬ. ‘a tiny bit’ has the restriction “accus only” (sense 1 has no restrictions with regard to case).
Restrictions are also given for noun phrase idioms used only in the singular or only in the pluraclass="underline" B-290 АДМИНИСТРАТИВНЫЙ ВОСТОРГ [NP; sing only] ‘bureaucratic zeal’; Д-401 МЁРТВЫЕ ДУШИ [NP; pl only] ‘dead souls’. Such restrictions are not presented for idioms whose key noun is used in the language only in the singular or only in the pluraclass="underline" Г-327 ГОРЕ ЛУКОВОЕ ‘(you) lummox’ and T-56 ТАРЫ-БАРЫ ‘tittle-tattle’.
For idioms comprised of two nouns connected by a conjunction, the grammatical restriction “sing only” refers to each noun component of the idiom: ЦАРЬ И БОГ ‘lord and master’; АЛЬФА И ОМЕГА ‘the alpha and omega’. Similarly, АХИ И ОХИ ‘ohs and ahs’ is described as “pl only,” which means that each of its components may be used only in the plural.
For idioms consisting of a noun in the nominative case plus another element, the restriction “sing only” or “pl only” refers only to the noun in the nominative case. It is understood that the remaining component(s) of the idiom can be used only in the form or forms shown in the head matter: for example, in the idioms ДОЛЯ ПРАВДЫ ‘grain of truth’ and ПРЕВРАТНОСТИ СУДЬБЫ ‘vagaries of fate’, the indicators “sing only” and “pl only” refer only to the words ДОЛЯ and ПРЕВРАТНОСТИ, respectively.
When a noun phrase that is used as a subject-complement can occur both in the nominative and in the instrumental case, the noun phrase is described as “subj-compl with copula, nom or instrum”; for example:
B-235 • ВОЛК В ОВЕЧЬЕЙ ШКУРЕ. [NP; usu. subj-compl with copula, nom or instrum (subj: human).] .wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Adjective Phrases
Adjective phrases (including participles) that contain long-form adjectives are presented in the nominative case only, in the masculine singular: ЦЕЛЫЙ И НЕВРЕДИМЫЙ ‘safe and sound’. Adjective phrases that contain short-form adjectives are listed in the masculine singular: НИ ЖИВ НИ МЁРТВ ‘more dead than alive’. If no restrictions are provided, the given adjective phrase can be used in other genders, in the plural, and (long-form only) in other cases as well.